Thursday, January 13, 2011

"It is our core beliefs about the very nature of human beings that make us so susceptible to the rising plague of intolerance that is spreading across the land. The American character was forged, in large part, on a skewed idea about who we are as a people that was spawned several hundred years ago in the Protestant Reformation and English Enlightenment.

From the very moment John Winthrop and his flock of Puritans landed on American shores in 1630, we came to believe that we are God's chosen people and that the Lord has a unique covenant with us that makes us special among the peoples of the world. In our economic life, we have become the fiercest supporters of Adam Smith's belief that the naked pursuit of individual self-interest in the market is the defining feature of human nature. In our political life, we have come to believe in 'American Exceptionalism,' that our political ideology is somehow superior to all others. In our social life, we are the strongest supporters of Social Darwinism, that life is a combative struggle in which only the strongest survive. These highly regarded core beliefs are antithetical to a mature empathic sensibility."

From The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce

The Deemer Interview

Charles Deemer teaches screenwriting at Portland State University. He is a playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and pioneer in hyperdrama. He was the editor of Oregon Literary Review and the artistic director of Small Screen Video.

"Having written almost daily for over 40 years, I can say that writing is not a job or a vocation or a profession--it is an existence. It is a way of being in the world."

Seven Plays

"Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street." Mary Ellen Lease, 1890

"All humanity's troubles come from not knowing how to sit still in one room," - Blaise Pascal.